IT was the sort of roar one associates with Amen Corner at Augusta National, with the Masters nearing its climax. And one of the central characters was equally familiar. But this was the second round at Oakland Hills and there was Greg Norman, black hat and all, bending down to lift his ball out of the 16th hole where he had just bagged an eagle two.

I was looking down at the action from beside the elevated green at the short 17th. The three some of John Daly, Tiger Woods and Corey Pavin also stood and watched. Then, to set up a remarkable scoring sequence, Woods proceeded to sink a treacherously fast, 40 foot downhill putt for a birdie two. Another huge roar went up.

Next, it was Pavin's turn. He, too, carded a two from nine feet. The crowd went wild once again and one could sense the air of anticipation when, finally, Daly stepped up to his hall in an attempt at completing a poker of twos. Groans. The eight foot birdie effort, with a severe break from right to left, slipped past the lower edge. Still, three twos and a three wasn't all that shabby, particularly on a course of this nature.

Referring to it afterwards, Daly said. "It would have been something but I reckon I hit a good putt. Then with a smile, he added. "OK, I screwed it up."

There are times when indifferent play makes it difficult to understand how Daly could have won two major championships, including last year's British Open. All it takes is the odd flash of brilliance, however, to remind one of his sparkling skills. And his play of the 18th yesterday was one such instance.

With a zero iron off the tee, he found the rough on the left, 212 yards from the front of the elevated green. Slashing at the ball for all he was worth with a five iron, he chased it up and into the left front bunker from where be played a glorious, 35 yard recovery to 18 inches to secure a closing par. It gave him a round of 69 and a total of 141 which was considered worthy of a visit to the media centre.

Daly press conferences are always a little different from the norm. "I have never been in a US Open media centre before because I never played worth a shit," he volunteered. It wasn't far from the truth, but more importantly, it ensured he had the hacks eating out of his powerful hands.

Mind you, Daly appears to have considerable difficulty in creating an impression around these parts. For instance, despite some prodigious striking during his opening round on Thursday he was listed 147th out of 155 competitors for driving distance at the end of play. Those who may have doubted that statistics can prove just about anything you would like them to prove, should note that Daly (average drive of 244 yards), was actually 10 places below playing partner Corey Pavin (249 yards).

As you may have guessed, the methodology was decidedly suspect. Driving statistics were measured over only two holes, the eighth and the 14th and, as it happened, Daly chose these to hit his only poor tee shots of the day.

This is his seventh US Open and his best position at the halfway stage, despite a share of 45th place at Shinnecock Hills last year. "It's tough for me, not like Augusta where I can take the driver out just when I want to," he said. "In fact this is the hardest course I've ever played.

"You can't attack it. You've got to play Nick Faldo golf hit fairways and greens. No one does that better than Faldo. And I'm prepared to be patient, now that I have the zero iron in my bag. It has made a tremendous difference.

"I was never a fairway wood guy. I don't know why but they just didn't seem to suit me. I hit the zero iron about 35 yards less than the driver and having it in my bag makes it a helluva lot easier to know what to hit off the tee."

It would be difficult to argue his need for anything longer, given that he reduced the 450 yard 10th to a zero iron and an eight iron to set up a birdie three. And with the zero bombing it once again off the tee at the 400 yard 15th, a sand wedge was sufficient to cover the remainder of the distance to within 12 feet of the flag. Another birdie.

Meanwhile, the presence of his wife and daughter prompted the almost inevitable questions about a newly acquired maturity and sense of responsibility, on and off the golf course. He was happy to go along with the notion, commenting. "Yea, I've grown up a lot." Then, almost instantly he added. "Which means I'm gonna do something stupid tomorrow."

The Wild Thing was alive and well at Oakland Hills yesterday.